THE AOraCULTURAL NEWS. 



Mau<-ii 1, 1913. 



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Siiiricultural Mtm 



Vol. XII. SATUEDAY. MARCH 1, 1913. No. 283. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



'Contents of Present Issue. 



The leading article in this number continues, in 

 an illustrative way, the consideration of water in 

 relation to the life of animals and green plants. Parti 

 of the article appeared in the last issue but one of the 

 Agricultural News. 



Interesting facts concerning West Indian varieties 

 of sugar-cane abroad, are given on page 67. 



On page 68, appears an article dealing, in a con- 

 crete manner, with the importance of scientific names. 



The recent work entitled Problems of the Antilles, 

 by Norman Lamont, is reviewed on page 69. 



Under the heading Insect Notes, on page 74, an 

 account is given of the work of the Entomological 

 Rest arch Committee, now to be known as the Imperial 

 Bureau of Entomology. 



The subject of Wattle Bark is continued from the 

 last issue of the Agricultural N>'ivs, on page 7.5. It 

 is intended to publish a third and la.st article on the 

 subject in the next number of this journal. 



The Fungus Notes, which will be found on page 

 IH, describe recent work, chicHy in Hawaii, on entomo- 

 genous fungi. 



A Univei'sity in the Tropics. 



This subject, which was dealt with editorially in 

 the last issue of the Agricultural Xeivs as the out- 

 come of a recent lea<ling article iu Tlie Times, receives 

 furihor symua'.helic c msideratiati in an article in 

 Xiitiirr' of January 30, 1913. The v.irious suggest- 

 ions, already indicated in connexion with the proposeii 

 scheme, are given unqualified support in this aroicle, 

 and iti conclusion it is stated: 'It would seem 

 clear that the site for the institution must be 

 sought in the Antilles. Nowhere among these islands 

 do we Htid all the requisite conditions so fully met .as 

 in the easily accessible and beautiful island of Trinidad.' 



The matter has received still further attention in 

 the form of a letter by Colonel Arnold to The Times of 

 February 3, 1913. In this it is pointed out that one of 

 the crying needs of the Tropics is for a central institu- 

 tion situated there, of which the object is not only to 

 teach practical agricultural workers and experts, biit 

 also to collect and collate scientific results, thus pro- 

 viding reliable informat,ion of wide application in 

 tropical agricultural practice. 



Oil from the Mexican Poppy. 



The Mexican poppy (Argcmone me.cicana) is well 

 known in the West Indies as a noxious weed of culti- 

 vated land in dry districts. It is indigenous, as its 

 name implies, to Central America, but has become 

 naturalized in nearly every part of the Tropics. In 

 India, oil is extracted from the seeds of this plant, and 

 the properties of the oil are described in the Agricul- 

 tural Ledger, 1911-12— -Xo. .). 



By ordinary pressure the seed yields 2.5 to 30 per 

 cent, of orange-coloured oil — a quantity equal to that 

 obtained from rape seed. Its specific gravity at 

 155'C. is 0"9247, and its saponification value is 190"3. 

 The oil gives, with nitric acid, an orange-red colour. 

 It dries to a hard jelly, gaining during the process 

 S per cent, in weight— an amount which corresponds 

 with that absorbed by poppy seed oil. 



In India, the oil is used for burning in lamps, and 

 is employed by painters as a drying oil, and for giving 

 a shining appearance to wood. The seeds and oil are 

 acrid and purgative. It is probable that the acridity 

 will prevent the attacks of white ants and borers. The 

 oil readily saponifies and gives a hard soap with soda. 



In view of the high price of linseed oil, it might 

 prove profitable to extract this oil in the West Indies, 

 for purposes of consumption in the local industries. 



In connexion with this plant it is interesting to 

 note further that the farmers in New South Wales 

 have endeavoured to get the Mexican poppy removed 

 from the official list of noxious weeds, since they regard 

 it as good fodder for stock {Tropical Agriculturist, 

 Vol. XXXIV, p. 428); whilst another reference (Agri- 

 cultural Ledger, 190o, No. 3) makes the interesting 

 statement that the plant is a common weed of nitre- 

 bearing land, and that an American investigator has 

 found pot.assium nitrate normally present in the ash 

 in notable quantity 



